Busting common myths of the October Crisis

Forty years ago today, what is now remembered as the October Crisis started with the abduction of British diplomat James Richard Cross, by Front de liberation du Quebec terrorists purporting to act in the name of Quebec secession and socialist revolution. On Oct. 10, Quebec Labour Minister Pierre Laporte was also abducted while playing ball with his nephew on the front lawn of his home. He would be assassinated by his kidnappers on Oct. 17.

In Quebec as elsewhere, myths are persistent, especially when they are used to mask the weaknesses of nationalist ideology and the errors of judgment of the movement they support. The deformation of the memory of the October Crisis is one of the most obvious examples of such historical revisionism. Indeed, the assassins and supporters of violence have become victims, while the defendants of the rule of law have been renamed as oppressors.

As Talleyrand said: "In politics, what is believed becomes the truth." This interpretation dictated by a certain separatist leadership, through ignorance, carelessness, irresponsibility or for the benefit of their cause, in fact contributes to the trivialization of violence and its consequences in a democratic society.